Enjoy

Last year, the Newtown Arts Festival hosted a 6x10 Play Festival. This year, the fourth annual arts festival will host an 8x10 Play Festival, taking place on Friday, September 18. The event will consist of eight one act, 10-minute plays written (mainly) by Connecticut residents, and directed by directors from Newtown and surrounding communities, including some who have directed at Town Players. Rehearsal schedules are flexible, and men and women of all ages are needed. Auditions will take place Sunday, August 2, at 6:30 pm, at Thin Air, 152 South Main Street.

Los Angeles based author Mathieu Cailler will be at C.H. Booth Library on Saturday, August 8. A guest of Sandy Hook author Sophfronia Scott, Mr Cailler will read from "Loss Angeles," his collection of short stories Pacific Book Review has called “masterfully crafted." The afternoon program will also include a Q&A discussion on the craft of writing fiction.

Newtown Youth & Family Services (NYFS) will benefit from a fundraiser at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, featuring the United Soccer League’s (USL) New York Red Bull II facing Newtown Pride FC of the Connecticut Soccer League (CSL), on Thursday, July 30, at 7:30 pm. Tickets vary in price, starting at $12, with group and family discounts available. Matt Ariniello, operations, development and partnership for success grant coordinator for NYFS, said this week that tickets for the game are still available.

Newtown resident Liz Luzietti, a licensed childcare consultant for Cultural Care Au Pairs, recently organized an outing at Dickinson Park with some of the au pairs under her care. On July 16 the group met at Dickinson Park, where they enjoyed a performance by Survivors Swing Band, part of the 2015 Summer Concert Series presented by Newtown Parks & Recreation. As part of that gathering, according to Ms Luzietti, the group also enjoyed a picnic of myriad ethnic foods.

Young football fans will have the opportunity to show off their football skills when NYA Sports & Fitness Center hosts an NFL Punt, Pass & Kick competition on Saturday, August 1, at noon. The competition is free and open to all boys and girls ages 6-15.

Through a collaboration between Newtown Chamber of Commerce and The Town Players of Newtown a free backstage look into the world of performing arts is being offered on Wednesday, July 29, from 6:30 to 8 pm, at The Little Theatre, 18 Orchard Hill Road.

Led by Jessica Nivison as Tracy Turnblad, a colorblind teen in the early 1960’s who is passionate about equal rights and integration, Two Planks Theater Company’s production of "Hairspray" will deliver a timely message under its shimmering veneer of wuick-step dance steps and upbeat rock 'n roll music. Two Plants Theater has a huge cast for the show, with performers from not only Monroe, but also from Newtown, Trumbull, Shelton, Stratford, Fairfield and Bridgeport.

Newtown Parks & Recreation has announced that due to the threatening weather, today’s Summer Jam Concert Series will take place at Hawley School. The outdoor series will move into the gymnasium of the school, at 29 Church Hill Road. Start time is noon, and there is no admission charge.

When a husband and wife don’t communicate, they sometimes end up finding out surprising – even shocking – things about one other. That’s the premise of The Problem by AR Gurney, one of the plays featured in Town Players of Newtown’s “Hot August Nights – One Acts,” which will run weekends July 31-August 8. In addition to The Problem, the production also includes The Proposal by Anton Chekhov; Porch by Jack Heifner; Wanted for Dinner, an original play written by Newtown resident Elizabeth Young; and Lovely Letters, an original play written by Bethel resident Michael Giuliano.

The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown will present artist Shauna Shane painting in oil, at a meeting of SCAN, Wednesday, July 22, at 1:30 pm, in the lower level of Newtown Meeting House. Ms Shane will demonstrate painting a figure. Admission is free, and reservations are not needed.